Thailand cave rescue: Electronic location gear, breathing masks can help save a football team

3 July 2018

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Missing youth football team found alive in Thailand

The missing youth football team trapped in a cave in the North of Thailand are found after heavy rain and flooding complicated the frantic attempt.

Just a few hours after rescuers successfully located a missing youth football team and their coach deep in a Thai cave complex, experts are considering the use of electronic devices to help bring them to safety.

The team were found through a few of the British volunteer cave divers in a partially flooded cave on Monday, 10 days after they are in the Tham Luang complex in the North of Thailand. The group was trapped by floods after entering the complex on June 23, sparking a huge search and rescue operation led by the Thai army. Experts from around the world, including the united kingdom, the USA, China and Australia have also traveled to Thailand to join the rescue operation.

The British divers are part of a British Cave rescue Council team that has been battle extremely hazardous conditions to reach the prisoner football team. It is estimated that the boys and their coach are located about 2 km (1.2 miles) in the cave complex and somewhere between the 800 metres (2624 feet) and 1 km (0.6 miles) underground, according to the caving experts. Now, rescuers are weighing the best options to make the team out of the cave complex, a very dangerous operation that could potentially involve diving through the caves, just wide enough for one person. None of the boys can swim, according to reports in the media.

THAI YOUTH FOOTBALL TEAM MIGHT HAVE TO DIVE OUT OF CAVES OR A FEW MONTHS TO WAIT TO BE RESCUED

“Back here in the uk, there is an assessment of the electronic equipment that may be suitable to pin-point the underground location of the boys and coach with a higher degree of accuracy than the published studies,” the Council said in a statement on Monday. “The necessary equipment will be sent to Thailand as electronic experts agree on the feasibility work such depth.”

The British experts say that, with the football team in a relatively small space, any drilling effort as a means of rescue would be very difficult.

A number of organisations in the united kingdom have provided support to the British Cave rescue Council team. The Derbyshire Cave rescue Organisation, for example, has specialized radio equipment to the divers, with the help of Derbyshire Police.

Some of the specialist radio equipment that we have sent to #Thailand earlier today along with a specialist BCRC cave diving team to help with the #caverescue thanks to @DerbyshireRPU and @DerbyshireARU for the further transport. pic.twitter.com/VRyTYTvpWw

— Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation (@Derbyshire_CRO) June 26, 2018

The thai authorities say that they are “100 percent security”, when they consider the extract of a youth football team of the cave complex.

Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn said Tuesday that a Navy SEAL team will have the last call on the evacuation method. He said one method being considered is for the group to be coached to swim with the help of special breathing masks.

He said other efforts will continue, such as the draining of water out of the cave and exploring the mountain side for the shafts and the other inputs of the caves below.

Experts have said that the safest option would be for the delivery of the 12 boys and their coach where they are and wait for the water levels to drop.

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